My answer, every time a client asks me this, is…

The reason I always stop to think about my answer to the blog advertisement question is that it's different for each client, different for each blog. Because each blog has different goals and different reasons for their existence.

And each client is different. Knowing this particular client is a big fan of contextual advertising (Adsense, Yahoo Publisher, etc) I had to hesitate a bit before I answered him. Because in this case, contextual advertising would hurt the client much more than it would help him.

The reason why is because this particular client offers a service in which he receives a large payment should his users decide to contract him. Several thousand dollars for each new client.

But stop and think about what he receives if they come to his site and click one of those contextually targeted links. You guessed it, they are going to click on one of his COMPETITORS links being served on his website. It's not a long stretch to come to the conclusion that he just sold a client that might have paid him several thousand dollars for a couple of bucks. Maybe less, maybe a couple of pennies.

The reason advertisers use contextual networks like Adsense is because they work. It's cheap advertising that can effectively steal clients from their competition. For a few cents a click they might just nab one of your clients right off your website and pull down the sale you could have had if you had not served up the ads.

Yes, there are ways to configure your Adsense ads to exclude specific websites, but bet your bottom dollar that some of your competitors are going to target your site, somehow, someway. If you are offering them the doorway for a small price, they are going to pay it and see if they can convert your users.

A better plan for service oriented sites such as the client in question is to optimize the site and work on the sales approach. Simply speaking, to CLOSE THE SALE with the users you have. Not to look for pennies when you could be making dollars.

If you can't convert the traffic you have, then a couple of different things could be wrong.

* You could have really low traffic

* You could have the wrong traffic

* Or your content is not capable of SELLING what you are offering

All three issues can be solved with some optimizing, with some strategy. But you need to know which it is first. To fix a problem, you need to first pin down what the problem is.

So be objective. If your sales text sucks, recognize that it sucks, move on, and FIX IT.

Set the goal in your mind to make your site a success. Then take action to get it done. You can be at the top. All it takes is a little elbow grease.